


He’s Waiting for Us

by TheDeceivingMaiden



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Character Study, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Guilt, How do i tag..., Hurt/Comfort, Joker is only mentioned, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Writing Exercise, guilt tripping, is that what it's called?, same with Akechi but focus more on Joker and his friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:06:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26304619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDeceivingMaiden/pseuds/TheDeceivingMaiden
Summary: Once they snapped out of whatever illusion they were in, the gang rushed towards Odaiba to help Ren. But on their way, they began to realise what they have done to their dear friend and leader of the Phantom Thieves.
Relationships: Amamiya Ren & Phantom Thieves of Hearts, Persona 5 Protagonist & Phantom Thieves of Hearts
Comments: 2
Kudos: 43





	He’s Waiting for Us

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to try exploring what the Phantom Thieves were thinking while Joker and Akechi were in Maruki’s Palace for the second time. Like, they finally noticed something was going on, but during their trip to Odaiba, they must have thought about how they were disillusioned into clinging onto the fake reality, right?  
> My take on the whole thing. Also, this is sort of a writing exercise for me.

The deafening sound of something shattering shocked them, yet it felt as if they were finally snapped awake. The Phantom Thieves who were gathered at Leblanc looked around, surprised yet confused as Ann asked, “What…was that?”

No one answer, they were all frowning at the sudden noise until Ryuji let out a startled shout, gawking at where Morgana was sitting at. Everyone stared at him, turning to see what was wrong before they all needed to do a double-take as well.

“Wait…you’re…!?”

Eyes wide, Morgana lifted up a paw, looking just as shocked as everyone. “What the…” he gapped, staring down at his form. “I’m...!?”

“Oh yeah…” Futaba leaned over to poke at her furry friend’s body, blinking as she cried out, “Oh yeah! That’s right! Mona, why were you a human!?”

“Yeah!” Ann pointed out, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “You’re supposed to be a cat!”

There was an angry hiss when Morgana swiped at Futaba’s hand to make her stop. “I am _not_ a…oh wait,” he stopped before looking over himself one more time. “Yeah…I guess I am a cat.”

“How did we never realise?” Yusuke frowned, trying to think with everyone as they all stared at their feline friend, as if hoping the answer would just fall out of him if they did. None came of course, and the longer they sat there, the more confused they got.

“You know,” Morgana leapt onto the table, eyes sharp and his body poised as he stood before the group. “We’ve got more important things to do than sit around and figure out what happened to us.”

Everyone stared at him, not sure what he meant until Ryuji let out another surprised shout. “That’s right! Ren!”

“You said he was headed to Odaiba, correct?” Makoto quickly got up from her seat. “And with Akechi-kun?”

“We need to find them!” And with that, everyone got out of the café and headed straight for the train station. Makoto was already on her phone trying to contact Ren, growing frustrated whenever the call wouldn’t go through no matter how many times she tried. Everyone tried to call as well, but got the same result as her. Still, the gang got to the station, barrelling onto the train before it could even close its doors and leave them behind.

The trip to Odaiba was going to take a long while, needing two transfers before they could get there. Everyone was impatient with how long it would take, however they had no other choice but to sit down and wait. In the meantime, the gang decided to continue their discussion on what was exactly going on, maybe even attempt to understand the situation while they were at it.

But as time went by, the heated discussion amongst themselves slowly died down into silence. Each word they let out left something bitter in their mouths, and the longer they wondered out loud on how much Ren possibly knew, what he was doing with Akechi and why didn’t they realised any of this happening, a heavy weight steadily grew in their hearts and weighed them down. The gang didn’t get any closer to understanding what’s going on, and instead, they felt dread and it overwrote their initial impatience to find Ren.

During their trip, Yusuke fell into silence, completely still and deep in his thoughts while Ryuji muttered and grumbled under his breath next to him. Ann was on her phone, texting Shiho and asking her questions. There was a frown on her lips, and it grew in size until she finally stopped and quietly slipped her phone back into her purse, her complexion now gone completely pale at this point. Futaba and Haru were just as silent as the others, except the hacker couldn’t decide whether she should fiddle with her phone or play with Morgana on her lap. The cat didn’t protest at the rough handling. He didn’t want to upset the small girl while she’s trying to not hyperventilate on the spot. Haru was trying to calm her down; not just for Futaba’s sake, but for herself as well. And after the umpth attempt on trying to contact their leader, and even her attempt on trying to call Akechi, Makoto gave up and resigned to just sitting with the rest of her friends on the train. If they wanted to get in contact with Ren, they were just going to have to get to Odaiba, no matter how long it would take for them to arrive.

As they travelled, transferring from one train to the next, the gang also noticed other oddities going on. It was unnoticeable at first, but everyone around them felt off. There wasn’t the usual scowls or grumbles present during train rides, nor any of the silence people give off when they want to be left alone. Instead, everyone looked as if they were in complete, utter bliss, and it unnerved the group as they wondered if they were like that before snapping out of whatever illusions they were in.

“You know…” Yusuke finally began. Everyone turned and saw the artist keeping his eyes downcast, refusing to look at them right now. “Before we left the café, I saw it. I saw my mother’s painting…the Sayuri, hanging there on the wall.” Letting out a small, chocked laugh, he shook his head. “It should be there. It had _always_ been there. Yet it was briefly on display at an art exhibit…just as I wanted…”

“Yusuke…” Ann began, worried as Ryuji leaned over to rub his pal’s back. All the artist could do was take a deep breath in and continue.

“Ren came to visit yesterday. I thought he would be just as happy as I was when he saw the Sayuri on display for all to see, yet…” he sighed, “to my surprise, he wasn’t as pleased. I didn’t understand why he was upset upon seeing my mother’s painting finally gaining the recognition it deserved, going on about how things were going too perfectly with Madarame and how the Sayuri should be somewhere else…but thinking back now, I finally understand.” He smiled sadly. “I’m afraid I disappointed him, and I knew that well, yet I turned away from the truth anyway.”

“We all did,” Makoto admitted, sitting up straight and tucking her hair back. “I think it’s obvious now, but all this time, Ren knew what was going on, and was trying to snap us out of…whatever situation we were caught in, but we choose to ignore him in favour of staying in it. I don’t believe he was mad at you specifically, Yusuke. It was us who disappointed him.”

“I still remember the look he gave me when I walked away,” Haru confessed, her head hung low in shame. “It was brief, but the look Ren-kun gave me was pleading, as if he was silently trying to get me to understand what’s going on…but…” she sighed, “I couldn’t accept it, and decided to turn away from him instead.”

“Me too,” Ann closed her eyes in regret. “I…I just walked…no, I ran away from him while clinging onto Shiho. Even when…” she gulped. “Even when deep down, I knew if I realise what was happening, I was too scared that Shiho would disappear again, and I didn’t want that to happen no matter what.”

“Same here,” Makoto nodded.

Groaning, Ryuji clutched his head in frustration, almost letting out a scream. “Dammit! I thought it was odd that I couldn’t remember how I met Ren to begin with! I even literally said it to his face that I don’t remember how we met before I just walked out on him!”

“I ran…” Futaba whispered, her voice low as she tried her best to not cry. Haru was holding her hand, patting her back still as Morgana nuzzled underneath her other one. “I ran, even after I said I wouldn’t let any more lies deceive me. And after that, Ren helped me all this time, but I…” she shut her eyes tight, whimpering. “I failed him…I failed and ran away from him because mum was…she was…”

“Futaba-chan…”Haru quietly hugged her close, whispering soft comforts as best as she could despite wanting to cry herself. Everyone fell silent, guilt hanging heavily in the air over what they did and how they treated the one who became a big part of their lives. Glancing at everyone, and making sure there was no one else in the carriage with them, Morgana slipped out of Futaba’s lap and sat beside her instead.

“Ya’know, I cannot speak for him…” he began, his tail waving about as he spoke. “But I don’t think Ren is mad at us. Surely disappointed, but he’s always the understanding one.” He looked at everyone as they all listened to him. “We all know what he’s like, always stepping in to help those in need, willing to listen to our problems until we find a solution together or at least feel better about ourselves. He even puts himself in danger so then we’d be safe.” Closing his eyes, he sighed. “Even though he knows something is wrong, he didn’t want to force us to snap out of whatever illusions we were in against our will. He was patient while encouraging us to remember, waiting for us even now,” he nodded in determination. “There’s a reason why he told me he was going to Odaiba with Akechi. He told me just in case we realised what’s going on so then we can help him. And that is what happening now. He still trusts us, and is waiting for us right now at Odaiba.”

Everyone remained silent, all of them slowly letting his words sink in. Quietly, Futaba pulled herself out of Haru’s embrace, wiping away her tears angrily before taking Morgana back onto her lap. “You’re right…” she sniffled. “You’re right, Mona…”

“We cannot fail him this time,” Haru nodded, eyes sparkling with her own determination.

Everyone agreed on that, with Ryuji giving out a sheepish grin. “Man…we seriously need to make it up to him somehow. Big time.”

“Once we find him and understand what is going on, we should all apologise,” Makoto nodded, leaning back in her seat, but stopped when something caught her eyes. “What the…!?”

Everyone turned to what she was looking at, gasping and scrambling onto their feet when they saw a strange, yet faint building looming over a construction site in Odaiba. Once they arrived at Odaiba Station, the gang all got off the train and rushed towards it. Everyone noted how no one else seemed to be paying the strange building any mind, with Makoto theorising it might be because it's only seeable in their eyes, or everyone around them could see it, but didn’t care, like that time when reality and Mementos merged.

Once they arrived at the base of the faint building, which was completely fenced off by meshes for the construction site underneath it, Morgana leapt out of Futaba’s arms and stared up at it. “This is…”

“You…You know what this is, Mona?” Ann panted after the quick run they all did from the station to get here.

“Dude…” Ryuji wheezed, pointing up at the looming building. “Isn’t this a Palace though? How long has this been here?!”

“I don’t know, but…” Morgana paced back and forth in front of the Palace, frowning before coming to a halt. “I’ve been here before. This is where Ren and I saw Yoshizawa awaken to her Persona!”

“What!?” The gang looked up at the Palace, eyes wide before looking turning back down at Morgana. “Does that mean Ren is in there!?”

“Most likely,” Morgana turned back to them. “It would make sense if this has anything to do with what’s going on though. Especially when we can see a bit of it here in reality.”

“But a Palace…isn’t the Metaverse…” Haru fished out her phone, swiping at it as everyone followed suit. She let out a gasp, eyes wide before showing her phone for everyone to see. “The Meta-Nav is back!”

“Mine too!” Ann showed off her phone as well. Everyone got the same thing, and even though the app looked slightly different, they all began trying to enter the keywords so then they could all enter the Palace together.

“Let’s see…‘stadium’,” Ryuji tried, pleased with the first hit. “Alright! Now for the name…wait…”

“Who…exactly owns this Palace, Morgana?” Yusuke asked the question everyone was having, all eyes on Morgana as the cat’s eyes grew wide at the realisation.

“I…I don’t know…!” Morgana began to frantically pace around the place. “Yoshizawa was the one who stumbled on this Palace, but we never found out who it belonged to!”

“For real!?” Ryuji bemoaned, scratching his head as he glared at the Nav’s search bar in irritation. “Gussing one thing is already a pain in the ass! Now we have to guess _two_!?” Groaning, he began shouting out whatever name came to mind. “Eeeer…‘Kasumi Yoshizawa’! No? Um…‘some famous gymnast’! Oh c’mon!”

“We won’t get anywhere if you just shout out random words!” Ann snapped, trying to think herself. In the end though, everyone also tried saying whatever words they could think of, but got nothing out of it. Futaba tried to search for any information on the stadium here, but couldn’t get much from just her phone and customised notebook in hand. They tried asking Morgana if he could just go into the Palace himself since he never needed to use a Meta-Nav to begin with, but the cat admitted he couldn’t do that unless he knew who owned the Palace in the first place.

“Dammit!” Ryuji punched at the construction site’s gate, cursing at their constant failed attempts while glaring up at the faint Palace looming over them mockingly. Everyone was just as frustrated, feeling so close to getting to Ren, yet couldn’t even get into the Palace themselves. Groaning, the blond pressed his phone to his forehead, as if doing this would make the rest of the keywords magically appear for them. It felt hot against his head…too hot and bright even, so he pulled back to take a look.

“What the…”

Everyone had the same reaction as the Meta-Nav began to glow brightly, shining as a faint blue butterfly briefly appeared on the screen. Morgana watched in awe, gasping when the app spoke and transported them all into the Palace at once.

“We’re in!” everyone looked over their Phantom Thieves outfits as Morgana skipped over, pleased with this turn of events. Futaba was already scanning the area, searching all over the place until she found who they were all looking for.

“I found him! I sense Joker inside the Palace!” she announced, bouncing on her two feet in glee. “Akechi is with him too! And…huh…what…? Um…er… _Aaaaaah!_ ” everyone jumped back from her sudden scream and flailing about. “They’re fighting something really dangerous right now! They need our help!”

“Then what are waiting for!? Lead the way, Oracle!”

And with that, everyone ran towards the large building. They all rushed in, not stopping once whenever Shadows spotted them and came in for the attack. The gang either just ran pass them or just blazed through with a quick blow to the head before continuing along their way.

Joker was in danger. He needed them right now. They all disappointed him once already. No way were they doing it again.

**Author's Note:**

> TBH, while visiting every one of the Phantom Thieves, the events for Ryuji and Yusuke ticked me off the most. I did feel conflicted on wanting everyone to be happy, yet knew this was all wrong at first…but then Ryuji admitted to not remembering how he and Joker met, and Yusuke acted all happy to have Madarame back in his life, as if he never let his mother die and steal the Sayuri painting for himself. These two things really didn’t sit well with me, so nope to Maruki’s reality.  
> Also, I’d like to think the gang struggled a bit when trying to get into Maruki’s Palace, since no one knew whose Palace it was and what Maruki saw it as to begin with. Morgana’s easy traversal between the two worlds can’t help them since we never saw him bringing the gang into the Palace without using the Meta-Nav…save for maybe that one time with Haru now that I think about it, but let’s pretend she got a Meta-Nav while following Morgana into her dad’s Palace.  
> So the reason why they could all get into the Palace in the end was because Lavenza gave them a little help the moment Joker refused Maruki’s reality. When that happened, we saw the blue butterfly appearing before Joker briefly. That should be the moment when Igor and Lavenza finally reached out to Joker at last since he held fast onto his belief in his friends and his want to go back to the real reality.  
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
